General Paul Nakasone
Commander, U.S. Cyber Command
Paul Miki Nakasone was born in November 1963 in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He earned an undergraduate degree from St. John’s University where he received a commission in military intelligence through the Army ROTC. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Southern California, an M.A. from the National Intelligence University, and an M.A. from the U.S. Army War College. He has also completed other educational opportunities afforded by the military.
He served in foreign assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Korea, and has served as a senior intelligence officer for the battalion, division, and corps levels. He served the Joint Chiefs of Staff as Deputy Director for Trans-Regional Policy. He has held several positions within Cyber Command.
In 2018, Nakasone was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Director of the National Security Agency and head of the United States Cyber Command.
He is married and has four children.
In the News…
General Paul Nakasone, the Cyber Command director, confirmed for the first time that the United States had conducted offensive cyber operations in support of Ukraine. In an interview with a British television news channel, he said, “We’ve concluded a series of options across the full spectrum: offensive, defensive,[and] information operations.”
Although he did not provide specifics, the general said the operations were lawful and conducted with civilian oversight of the military. “My job is to provide a series of operations to the Secretary of Defense and the President, and so that’s what I do,” he said.
He previously said the agency developed a “hunt forward” team in December to help Ukraine shore up its cyber defenses and networks against threats. But his latest remarks appear to be the first time that a U.S. official said publicly that the U.S. has been involved in offensive cyber operations in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
